Double tragedy. Ukrainians fatally stabbed in Germany, Russian arrested

A tragic event unfolded in the German town of Murnau am Staffelsee outside a local shopping centre, where a knifeman attacked two men from Ukraine, resulting in their deaths. The assailant, reportedly a Russian citizen, was arrested several hours later by the police.

The incident occurred on Saturday, April 27, just after 11 AM ET, near the Tegelmann shopping center in Murnau.

The victims, two Ukrainians aged 23 and 36, succumbed to stab wounds. The older man died at the scene, while the younger man passed away at the local hospital despite attempts at resuscitation. Authorities swiftly initiated a search for the attacker, who was apprehended shortly thereafter.

That evening, a 57-year-old suspect was arrested at his apartment not far from where the crime occurred. Reports have identified him as a Russian national.

According to Bild, there was a connection between the attacker and his victims, who were registered in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, approximately 17 miles south of Murnau am Staffelsee.

The exact motive behind the killings remains unclear, with police investigations ongoing to unravel the circumstances of this double murder.

The local prosecutor's office has requested temporary detention for the 57-year-old suspect, pending a court appearance before a magistrate judge on Sunday.

This murder adds to the list of tragedies affecting Ukrainians in Germany. In February, Volodymyr Yermakov, a 17-year-old member of the Ukrainian youth basketball team, was murdered in Duesseldorf.

According to DW, since the onset of the Ukraine conflict, the number of Ukrainian citizens in Germany has surged from 138,000 in January 2022 to 1.15 million in October 2023, constituting 1.4 percent of Germany's population. Of these, 168,000 reside in Bavaria.